In the wake of therecent shooting rampagein South Germany, there have been calls toraise the age ratingof World of Warcraft, a game known for its extreme promotion of gun crime and simulation of school shootings. Restricting the sale of a fantasy MMO willdefinitelystop people from wanting to put bullets in children. Obviously.
“Parents must know what danger potential exists in their children’s bedrooms,” claims German politician Mechthild Ross-Luttmann, who seems to believe that twelve-year-olds are too young to be playingWoW, and that banning them from the role-player will stop crime because ofreasons.
Author Andreas Rosenfelder contests this amazing kneejerk reaction: “I don’t see a connection between digital role playing games likeWorld of Warcraftand shooting sprees. In heated debates there can easily be some confusion.”
Of course, Herr Rosenfelder is being far too reasonable to see theexcellentlogic at work. Everybody knows that banning or restricting something completely unrelated to a certain crime will make sure that crime never happens again. Even a lamb knows that. The connection is there, if you simply close your eyes and imagine real,realhard.
